The present invention relates to musical instruments, and more specifically, to instrument supports for wind musical instruments.
As is known in the art, several musical instruments traditionally categorized as woodwind instruments utilize similar hand positions. For example, clarinets, saxophones, oboes and English horns all employ the digits of the musician's left hand to cover the upper tone holes or keys closer to the mouthpiece through which the instrument is winded and the digits of the musician's right hand to cover the lower tone holes and keys further from the mouthpiece. The musician's right thumb rests beneath a thumb rest (e.g., a knob, protrusion, or hook) and forms the principal support for the weight of the instrument when played. FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art thumb rest for a clarinet.
Use of the musician's thumb as the primary support for the instrument can, over time, lead to discomfort and strain-induced and over-use injuries, such as carpal tunnel syndrome. The discomfort and injuries are attributable not only to the weight of the instrument itself, but also to the downward displacement of the thumb from its natural resting position in alignment with the index finger, as also shown in FIG. 1. Such maladies are exacerbated by heavier instruments, such as baritone saxophones, which can weigh between 11 and 15 pounds.
To ameliorate the pain and injuries to musicians' right thumbs due to strain and over-use, a variety of straps and harnesses have conventionally been employed in conjunction with the thumb rest to aid in supporting an instrument. For example, it is common for musicians to use a linear loop neck strap or a harness to attempt to transfer some of the weight of the instrument to the neck and shoulders of the musician. The harnesses currently available on the market vary in design, but all seek to further reduce the strain on the neck and upper back caused by the conventional neck straps used in conjunction with thumb rests.
The present invention recognizes that many existing neck straps and harnesses do not provide entirely satisfactory results and, depending on design, can merely temporarily mask the problems experienced by musicians by transferring the strain of bearing the weight of the instrument to the neck and/or shoulders of the musician.